Nearly 35,000 farmers in Odisha are still awaiting procurement of around 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of rabi paddy, the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) alleged on Tuesday, accusing the BJP government of failing to honour its election promises to farmers and demanding that the procurement period be extended by at least 15 days.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJD leaders claimed that despite promising to procure every grain of paddy, raise the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and provide enhanced input subsidies before the elections, the BJP government had failed to fulfil its commitments.
Although the government has extended the procurement deadline by three days beyond June 30, the party said the move was inadequate as thousands of farmers are yet to sell their produce.
They further alleged that excessive deductions of 10-12 kg per quintal, flaws in the registration process and delays in issuing procurement tokens have disrupted paddy procurement across the state.
The party further pointed out that large quantities of paddy remain stranded at mandis, exposing farmers to losses during the ongoing monsoon, while many have been forced to sell their produce to middlemen at prices below the MSP.
Against the government’s procurement target of 20 lakh metric tonnes of rabi paddy, only 18.46 lakh metric tonnes have been procured so far. Of the 3.67 lakh farmers who registered for procurement, around 3.37 lakh have sold their produce, leaving nearly 35,000 farmers still awaiting procurement, they added.